Record number of Leaving Cert students sit higher-level maths

education

RECORD numbers of Leaving Certificate pupils will sit higher-level maths when the annual examinations begin in 5,000 test centres around the country this Wednesday.

This is also the first year that all Junior Cert pupils will sit the new Project Maths syllabus, which was introduced on a phased basis in 2011.

In total, 118,784 pupils are due to sit exams across both the Leaving and Junior Cert courses - a small increase on last year's total of 118,673.

The number of final-year pupils taking higher-level Leaving Cert maths has risen once again.

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This is the fifth consecutive year-on-year increase and follows changes to the syllabus and structure of the exam, in which students who now earn a D3 grade or higher are awarded an additional 25 CAO points.

Some 18,173 have signed up for the higher-level assessment, although around 2,000 students traditionally switch to ordinary level on the day.

In 2010, just 10,516 registered for the higher-level paper.

With 30,543 candidates, more boys will sit the Junior Cert, with 29,376 girls due to sit the exams.

However, more girls (28,245) than boys (27,718) will take on the Leaving Cert this year.